Bail reduced for former firefighter accused of Durham arsons

Thursday

Sep 26, 2013 at 12:44 PMSep 26, 2013 at 12:50 PM

By Kendall Salterksalter@fosters.com

DURHAM — Gregory Potter, a former on-call firefighter from Peterborough accused of setting a series of fires in Durham in February, received a significant bail reduction during a hearing Thursday morning in Dover Circuit Court.

Judge Stephen Morrison agreed Thursday to adjust the terms of bail for Potter. Potter's bail had been set at $100,000 cash or surety. Now, bail is set at $5,000 cash with conditions. Those include:

■ Potter must abide by a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

■ He may be required to wear a GPS tracking device to ensure his compliance with that curfew.

■ He is banned from the Town of Durham.

■ He lives at his parents' home in Jaffrey.

Also during Thursday morning's court appearance, Potter waived his right to a probable cause.

Potter, 22, has been charged with five counts of arson stemming from his actions on the morning of Feb. 2, during which he set fires which Durham police say nearly killed three people. According to an affidavit, the Durham Fire Department responded to 15 Main Street for a mattress fire at a single-family home on the property. Investigators discovered a 2008 Subaru parked in a back parking lot near the address. The car was red, had emergency lights and a Peterborough, N.H., Fire Department sticker on the back window. The vehicle was registered to Potter, who police say was involved in a previous incident at the address in September of 2012.

Durham Police Department Deputy Chief Rene Kelley said residents at 4 Smith Park Lane awoke to the sound of a fire at approximately 3:30 a.m. on Feb. 2 of this year. Heavy smoke filled the air in the apartment they rented. Outside, their Ford Explorer, Volkswagen Golf and Nissan Maxima were damaged.

According to Kelley, the four other buildings Potter set on fire were multiunit apartment structures on Main Street. All of the apartments were rented by students at the University of New Hampshire with the exception of the residents of 4 Smith Park Lane.